A deep breath, a small moment of silence, some concentration exercises. It seems like little, but science says otherwise. A team led by the Stanford University School of Medicine has shown that mindfulness, practiced consistently, can significantly improve children’s sleep, helping them not only to rest better, but also to manage emotions and learning with greater balance.
The study, published in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicineinvolved 115 third- and fifth-graders in two Northern California schools. The researchers followed them for two years, comparing the results of those who had participated in a mindfulness and movement program with those of a control group.
Two years of breathing and conscious movement
Half of the children took part in a health education and awareness program twice a week. Classes included guided breathing, body-focused exercises, and gentle yoga-inspired movements, all adapted to the language and rhythms of childhood.
At the end of the project, the results also amazed the researchers: the children who had practiced mindfulness slept on average 74 minutes more every night. Not only that: REM sleep, which promotes memory and emotional stability, had increased by 24 minutes compared to the beginning.
In parallel, the control group – the one who had not followed the program – lost sleep time in the same period.
And there is an even more interesting fact: in the program there was no mention of “sleep hygiene” at all. No rules about times, lights or technology before bed. The beneficial effect, the researchers explain, seems to have come from the reduction of stress and the activation of the parasympathetic system, the physiological mechanism that calms the body and mind.
The strength of silence
Today’s children live immersed in constant stimuli: screens, noises, frenzy. This constant level of activation can make it difficult to truly relax, even during sleep.
Mindfulness – understood as training attention and mental presence – seems to offer a simple and accessible way to regulate emotions, reduce anxiety and improve the quality of rest.
“We haven’t taught children how to sleep,” explained the study’s lead author, Ruth O’Hara, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford. «We taught them how to relax their minds and bodies. The result is that they began to sleep better on their own.”
The message is clear: you don’t need great strategies or sophisticated technologies to improve the well-being of the little ones. Sometimes all you need is a few minutes of conscious breathing and a little gentle attention towards yourself.
Why teaching mindfulness at school can make a difference
The most surprising aspect of the study is perhaps its simplicity: no devices, no drugs, just awareness and movement.
Yet, the results show a concrete and measurable effect on children’s health. Sleeping more and better means being more attentive at school, more stable emotionally and less irritable during the day.
For this reason, more and more schools around the world are integrating short mindfulness sessions into their days. 10 minutes of calm are enough to learn to recognize how you feel, breathe and deal with stress with a more serene attitude.
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